LOG - Kirihara, Tomoka, Eiji
Characters: Akaya Kirihara, Tomoka Osakada, Eiji Kikumaru, some NPC's.
Rating: PG-13/R for swearing and violence
Dated: Starts with the Ryuhana raid (February 15, around 03:30), ends February 16 at evening. (Blanche, Ai, if there's a problem with it, tell me and I'll fix it)
Summary: The famous kidnapping log! Eiji, Tomoka and Akaya are captured by human scientists during the Post-Valentines raid at Ryuhana Gakuen, and they're taken to a laboratory. But one of the kids turns to be too much to handle for the unethical adults.
A girl woke up with a tight feeling in her chest. No, it was around her neck, and it was choking her. She raised a hand and felt a collar placed around it. A tight one with red blinking lights...
"Where...?” Tomoka stared around; her eyes slowly focusing on what surrounded her. She was in a cell, still in her pj's, and with her long hair down. Eiji-chan... She was trying to help him... Where was Eiji, dammit?
What. The. Fuck!? Akaya’s head was throbbing and he had something on his neck. A collar, but a collar that did not feel right, not like a normal collar he used to wear. He noticed that he was also still in a pair of boxers and T-shirt, clothing he always used for sleeping, but he wasn’t in bed. With a growl he shifted, head resting on hard floor. Something definitely didn’t feel right. Like… all his energy was bottled inside, distressed… unpleasantly. Ugh…
She looked around again. Were her senses deceiving her again? No, the person who was not too far from them wasn't Eiji. He had black and messy hair, T-shirt and boxers... and a collar similar to hers. Tomoka got up, and despite the fact that she was shaking from head to toe, she got closer to the boy. "Ki... Kirihara-kun...?," she asked tentatively. Oh dear, he looked worse than her - if that was possible.
Kirihara tilted his head and cracked an eye open, Osakada. Well, it was good that someone else was here as well. They probably could figure something out together, but… the boy let out a groan, as soon as this fucking headache lessens. Light was irritating him at the moment, so he closed his eyes tightly again, speaking up, “Yeah, what?”
He didn't seem to be aware of the situation. Not like she knew what was exactly going on, anyway, but... The girl didn't give up easily. "What... what's this place? Do... you have an idea of what happened?", she murmured. It was odd... not only she was in a place she didn't know anything of, but her own body felt odd. She didn't feel the sound energy storing in her body, like other times. She tried to summon her sparkles... and nothing came to her. Nada. Zilch. Nope. Her powers were... gone. Like it happened to the psychics, maybe? No... it had to do with... She gasped in horror, staring at the collar Kirihara was wearing: it was identical to hers. Could that be the reason?
"Oh, look, a catboy."
"Eiji-chan, run!"
"Tomoka-chan! ... let her go, nya!"
Eiji's ears twitched a little, picking up voices. They were so faint, though ... but it sounded like Tomoka-chan. Tomoka-chan ... ?
Remembering the night's events in a flash, Eiji tried to jump up, but only managed a weak flop. "Nya ..." he said weakly, turning over onto his side, his tail remaining limply on the floor. Whatever the drug was, he wasn't quite fully recovered from it yet. "Where am I? Tomoka-chan? Anyone?"
Damn, Kirihara was far from pleased and stupid questions like that did not help the matter, “How in hell would I know?” He was preparing to sleep after the evening spent with Yamato, walking to his room from shower and right… since then he didn’t remember anything at all. This buzzing of the energy was frustrating… he needed an outlet and now, goddamnit. Akaya tried to push some of the energy into the floor through his hands, always the easiest task… this time it was impossible though. Something was blocking it.
…
The collar. But… the hell? Was it even possible?! Apparently yes. “These collars… I think you already figured it out as well.”
Tomoka touched her own collar again, shaking fingertips now feeling the metal and the plastic. She had no idea of how it prevented her from using the photonic energy so efficiently, but obviously she didn't like that. Not a single bit. "I... I see," she murmured. She could remember the past events better... she had managed to take some of Sakuno's friends to safety, but when she tried to do likewise with Eiji, they were caught and brought there. Whatever the place was. "... Eiji-chan...". She then faintly heard the catboy's voice.
It was Tomoka-chan! "Nya, don't like drugs, I feel tired," he said, tail beginning to swish a little. Eiji tried to sit up, and found that if he pushed slowly off the ground he could sort of get into a sitting position. His throat hurt a little, and though he crawled on all fours to look out at the hallway and try to see outside, he couldn't see very much beyond the four walls that confined him. "Where are you, Tomoka-chan? I don't see you."
Slowly and trying to use the wall as a support, Tomoka pulled herself towards the door of the cell, trying to place the less strain on her still wobbling legs. "Seems I and Kirihara-kun are not too far from you, but I can't see you either." The place seemed to be a sort of jail, or something by those lines. The lights were cold... in fact, the whole place was colder than the dorms of Ryuhana, though nowhere as much as the outer grounds in those days. She rubbed her arms and shuddered. Why were they brought there? What would those persons do to her and her friends? And more importantly... how would she defend them and herself, with her powers tapped by the damn collar?
Uh… apparently there was a third student, Eiji… the feline-boy, if Akaya remembered correctly. Awesome. Pulling himself finally up into a sitting position, he crawled over to the wall he thought was joining their cell with Eiji’s, resting his back against it. The headache just got worse, his skin tingling, uh… and he felt like throwing up at the moment, but no… a question just to make sure, “Eiji… you don’t have a collar, don’t you?”
"Collar?" Eiji felt at his neck, but the only collar he could feel was that of his t-shirt, and it was probably stupid to think Kirihara was asking about that. "What collar, nya?" His head felt a little better, but Eiji found that the less talking he did, the better his throat felt. "You sound like you're on the left, nya ..." His tail flicked in irritation, wishing the scratchy throat would go away.
"Eiji-chan's psionic powers are gone, Kirihara-kun," she murmured. "Maybe that's why he has no collar." Tomoka then turned to the older boy and saw that he was fighting to remain on his feet. "There... lay down. And don't bitch about this; you're in barely any position to talk ". Tomoka forced Kirihara to lie down, and sat not too far away from him since her own head was spinning. She seemed to be in slightly better shape than them, but that didn't mean she wasn't drained...
Kirihara just growled at being ordered around, but couldn’t resist much. And besides, lying down did feel like a very nice idea. He took his time with answering, “No… it’s because they can see what he is, unlike with us.” Which meant one thing… they would do tests. Whoever it was that kidnapped them surely wanted to run tests to find out what kind of mutants they caught. The very idea irritated Akaya to another level. He was no animal, to be kept in a cell like this… treated like an object of experiments. As his anger grew, the amount of energy rouse as well. Never a good thing with the boy.
Soon surely someone would show up to fetch them for the tests.
Eiji was confused. It sounded like Tomoka and Kirihara were in the same cell, from what they were saying, and it also sounded like they had a collar when he didn't. Trying to stand up, Eiji made it onto his knees, but his head protested as soon as he tried to get on his feet. His tail swished a bit as he shook his head violently, trying to clear it--uh, not a good idea, Eiji thought as the world shook painfully and his gag reflex nearly overwhelmed him.
"... I want to go home, nya ..." said Eiji, flattening his ears to his head as he backed up until he felt his back hit a wall. Pulling his knees up, Eiji rested his chin on them and debated the merits of a nice long catnap. Maybe this would turn out to be a bad dream, the cat boy thought, but everything--nausea, sore throat, headache--felt so real that somehow Eiji doubted it was any figment of his imagination.
Tomoka felt drained now, barely able to listen to Eiji's voice. She also wanted to go to either Ryuhana or her house, to be with her friends or family... but she was stuck there, and her friends weren't able to do anything to help her. Suddenly, she heard noises: doors opening, steps, adult voices that she didn't recognize. A woman in a white coat said, "The girl goes first. She used her powers in a surprisingly efficient manner before captured so it'll be interesting."
Two men opened the door of the cell and forced her to stand up. "Come on, girl," one of them said, "the docs want to see you first. They won't kill you, so don't be that scared." She had no strength to fight back, so she just stared at Kirihara and vaguely smiled at him. "See you later, Kirihara-kun" she murmured as the scientists took her away from the cell.
All Akaya could was to sit up and glare as the two guys took Osakada away. He was going to be next, most definitely. Eiji was probably going to be spared tests, due to his physical mutation. Unless they were some crazy fucks, which was in high probability. The raven haired boy was slowly getting his wits back, the headache giving place to plain internal annoyance. He was… boiling inside to be frank. The energy had no outlet and it was slowly driving him insane… mind clouding, any coherent thoughts disappearing.
Kirihara just sat there, staring blankly at the opposite wall. Blood rushing to his eyes.
Hearing voices outside, Eiji had pricked his ears up to listen. The girl goes first? A surge of panic rose in Eiji's stomach, and he could taste bile in his throat. Where were they taking her?
"Tomoka-chan!" Eiji said, calling out in alarm. They were taking his friend somewhere without him! What were they going to do to her? He forced himself up on his feet, and as he leaned back against the wall for support he found that he could just barely stand. Walking was a different matter, though--he still had to lean against the wall, and the nausea was just barely held in check.
"Tomoka-chan! Nya, Tomoka-chan! Don't take her, nya! Tomoka-chan!" But no one heeded Eiji's cries, and as the transmorph reached the door of his own holding cell, he could vaguely see the back of the scientists and a bit of Tomoka's messy brown hair in the distance, getting further away.
Eiji slumped to the floor again with his back to the door. Scared as he was, he would not cry. He took a few deep breaths, both to chase away the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him, and to calm himself. What was it his mother had always said? "Getting excited won't help anyone, Ei-chan, so take deep breaths, slow down, and think." So Eiji took a few gulps of air, and tried to calm himself down.
After a while, he found his throat wasn't as constricted, and his heartbeats were slowing down into something closer to his normal pattern, not thumping hard in his throat. They'd taken Tomoka-chan, but they'd said they weren't going to harm her. Maybe she'd be back soon. Where were they taking her? What were they going to do to her? Would he be next? Would Kirihara-san? What if Kirihara-san was feeling horribly scared just like him? Oh, if only he had his powers and could help them out!
"Kirihara-san ... " said Eiji softly, his ears twitching a little. Now that he was a little calmer, he was thinking about their plight. "How many people were there? And how are you feeling, nya?"
Akaya was doing his best to keep focused on the outside rather than the inside this time. His power wouldn’t act up, as it was heavily restricted, so there was no use in controlling it… Focusing on it now only made his mind sink deeper and deeper. Sticky mess of a clouded red mist.
Outside.
Outside.
Outside was safe at the moment. When he heard the question, he latched to the thought of answering, it was… slippery, but helped him stay up for a bit longer. His voice quiet, but audible, Kirihara replied, “Two men and we heard a woman.”
Though the other part of the question would be better left unanswered. The older boy did not want to think about how he was feeling. For now he just settled for, “I’ll be fine,” His mind adding words… hopefully soon, if ever again.
The drug had finally worn out completely. The headache gone and Akaya was getting his physical strength back. He could stand now properly, without feeling dizzy.
His skin burned and it wasn’t that pleasant burn, he always felt whenever Yamato was touching him… ah, the thought of the man helped a little in calming his nerves. When Akaya said Yamato made him feel calm, he meant it honestly. It was that nice kind of calm, that kind that let the boy stay sane longer…
Hours passed. Or maybe just minutes. Tomoka didn't know that for certain. None of the doctors that tested her were the image of the Good Family Doc: they didn't abuse the girl physically or sexually, but they *did* subject her to testing sessions that felt like an eternity. They collected samples of all kind (blood, hair, saliva, etc.), took the collar away for some minutes to force her to show them her light and sound powers, subjected her to different stimuli to see if her reactions were different...
All the while, Tomoka wished she had her powers fully back to attack them and escape. But just before the tests started, she heard the female doctor (apparently the leader of the group) say that Kirihara would be immediately tested after they were done with her. Oh, no... That meant Eiji would follow. Lord knew what the scientists would to the two boys.
No, she'd never abandon the guys to save herself. Never, ever.
Finally, all was said and done. Tomoka opened her eyes and found herself strapped to a stretcher, the collar again on. And the female doctor was by her side, smiling sweetly but poisonously.
"Good little girl. We'll leave you alone for a while, darling, now your boy friends will come here..."
Like in that American movie featuring The Bride and her bloody vengeance, the lady took a handkerchief and cleaned the sweat off Tomoka's face. The girl allowed the scientists to take her away in the stretcher, wondering if she and her friends would ever find the strength to wake up from this nightmare.
When the men appeared again after good few hours, Akaya just gave them a look. He didn’t feel like fighting them, not yet anyway, and he most definitely didn’t want to be touched by them so, the boy stood on his own and walked calmly wherever they were leading. Tomoka was probably taken somewhere completely else now.
There were more people in the lab, together with the woman, she looked even worse than Hanamura, really. If Kirihara had been given choice, he would honestly prefer to see the Ryuhana’s headmistress now. But he didn’t have it and he had to face this woman here. She didn’t look all that dangerous, but these eyes. Evil…
They didn’t take the collar off for first few hours. Sticking the boy with needles, taking blood samples, hair and skin. Checking his reactions, breathing and heart rate. The 17-year-old was clearly annoyed, even though he did his best to hide it. He didn’t speak, just did what they wanted him to do…
That is… until the woman, smiling sweetly (and it make Akaya sick), told him to show them what he could do when they took off his collar. She also threatened that if he didn’t co-operate his friends would pay.
Heheh.
Not like Akaya cared in his current state of mind. Or rather… he cared quite much, and he could feel the energy’s excitement at the thought of being finally released. Oh… he would show them. Not like they wanted, but he would. Definitely.
The moment the collar has been off, Akaya waited a second… two, before smirking unpleasantly. The woman raised an eyebrow, “Well?” Her eyes met the vermilion gaze (Kirihara’s eyes bloodshot) and after a moment she started screaming hysterically, in pain. The others didn’t quite know what was happening, but not for long. Some of them found themselves with Kirihara’s elbow in their guts, others with his fist in their face. The boy was fast… with each delivered blow, he was losing it more and more. Enjoying the screams and the pain he was inflicting.
Someone had a gun, but quickly it was charged, exploding together with the person’s hands. Another explosion… Akaya used anything he had to blast.
Blast, smash… hurt, kill. He didn’t leave anyone alive… there was some blood on his cheek and shirt when he finished, but none of it was his.
With a last look, he turned around and left the lab… finding his way to the cell he was previously kept in. Osakada was nowhere in sight, but at least he would get Eiji. No keys were necessary. Akaya just put two fingers to the lock, and after a second the door cracked open. At this point, the boy had perfect control over his power, his unconsciousness leading… he didn’t say anything; there was nothing that should be said. He didn’t wait for the other mutant, just went to search for the girl, expecting Eiji to follow.
Eiji had been catnapping in his cell after they took Kirihara, unable to do anything else. He waited for them to come and take him too, but no one did, and eventually he'd fallen asleep with his head pressed to the door listening for footsteps and hoping to hear a familiar voice in the distance. He didn't like the cell, but he didn't want to be taken away like Tomoka or Kirihara.
Then he'd heard the screaming and the explosions, which scared him plenty. What was that? Where was it coming from? What was causing it? Was Tomoka or Kirihara anywhere near there? Where they safe? Eiji's mind was spinning, even as he shrank to a corner of his cell, hoping, watching the door, wondering who would come by. Friend? Or ... foe?
When the door cracked open, Eiji stared at Kirihara. He was different, he looked different, his eyes were glowing red but he didn't even seem to see Eiji or smile. His shirt and bits of his pants were splattered with red blots, and Eiji's nose twitched, telling Eiji in no unspecific terms that yes, that was blood. Whose blood? Eiji's inquiring mind asked, but Eiji didn't dare voice out the question. Kirihara didn't seem quite right to him ... there was just something about the way he was carrying himself.
"Kirihara-san?" Eiji said, experimentally, but Kirihara didn't seem to hear him, and turned to go. Taking a quick glance at his cell, Eiji made up his mind. With a twitch of his tail, he hurried to catch up to Kirihara.
As he followed Kirihara, Eiji kept looking around, trying to spot Tomoka anywhere. A few times, Eiji would hear something, and duck with a "Nya" as a bullet or some similar threatening object came by. Eiji watched, amazed and in awe and a little scared, as Kirihara calmly picked up pieces of rubble to fling back, causing some rather scary explosions that had Eiji jumping back and covering his ears.
Nya, Kirihara had scary powers, Eiji thought, making sure to stay out of the other's way.
After taking the exhausted girl to another cell, the doctors decided that they wouldn't need to have her tied up to the stretcher since she was too tired to try to escape, even without her powers. So, they untied Tomoka and left her locked in the cell with the collar on, hoping she wouldn't be too rebellious and collaborate. They had now to perform the rest of their tests, and later they'd see what to do with the children.
Tomoka spent the following time trying to regain control of her limbs, which felt like they were made of sponge or something, so bland and listless she was from head to toe. Damn, what the hell did they inject her with during the test? They also forced her to take some pills - she didn't want to know what they contained. Tomoka's fatigue and the anguish upon not knowing what would happen to her, Kirihara or Eiji was enough to deal with.
Finally, Tomoka's legs felt less like jelly, and she was able to sit up and later even walk a bit inside of the cell. Few later… there came the gunshots, the screaming, the "damn mutant walking bomb" claims as, apparently, someone had broken in the place. Mutant... walking bomb...
One might think this shit's useless. But once 'charged' it's lethal... and I never miss.
Tomoka was reminded of the talk she had with Kirihara and Yukimura when they were made teammates. So, she knew that Kirihara was the one causing all of this mess. Fuck, *what* did they do to him?!
Again, she brought her hand up to her collar. No way could she take it off without its key. But she had no time to think about that; after some more gunshots and curses were heard, the girl found herself face to face with her friends. Eiji looked shaken, but other than that he seemed to be okay; apparently, he wasn't subjected to any testing. However...
"Kirihara-kun...?"
Kirihara looked different. His clothes were stained with blood despite him not having any evident injuries, and his eyes... she had never seen such eyes, bloodshot and filled with rage. Tomoka just stared at the man, instinctively taking a defensive stance despite knowing that, if he decided to kill her, she may not have a chance.
Akaya wasn’t to attack any of the two other mutants. He had enough sanity left to know who was a friend… the other lock also was nothing hard to blast, red irises fixed now on the collar the female mutant was wearing. Damn shit. This was all its fault. The boy reached out with his hand, brushing the collar with his fingertips. Not caring that Osakada was looking at him with wide, scared eyes. Few seconds… and a bit of focus on Kirihara’s part, and the item disappeared. There was nothing left of it, no dust like it happened usually when Akaya trained.
Now… the boy still wasn’t in his right mind exactly, but he was aware they had to get back to Ryuhana somehow. He, himself, was only dressed in boxers, a T-shirt and runners, something that, even though he wouldn’t mind, would look weird on the streets. The other two didn’t look better and… there was the problem of Eiji’s mutation.
They would have to find clothes… and money.
Now that the three teenagers were completely alone in the factory (except for the corpses, of course) and Kirihara was somewhat back to his senses, Tomoka decided to do something, instead of just being a damsel in distress. With a little mental effort, the girl remembered that, when she was wheeled from the test rooms to the cell, she could see two scientists checking on some lockers placed in a nearby hall. Maybe those lockers had something that could be useful to them...
Understanding that in his current state Kirihara wouldn't listen to her if she made him lay down, Tomoka murmured "I think I know where to get something useful; wait for me, I'll be back soon..." and, as quickly as her still somewhat shaky legs allowed her, she went to the lockers, trying not to look at the dead bodies laying on the floor.
The noises that had come from the mess Kirihara and Eiji caused to rescue Tomoka were still stored in her body, so she could easily use come small laser beams to break the locks. Ah, they were lucky; they contained clothes, bags and purses, which surely belonged to the scientists. There was even a second hand mp3-player, which would be perfect for her; she'd need a source of sound now. Too bad she got it after such horrible experiences.
The girl grabbed a bag and stuffed it with whatever she deemed useful (clothes, money, a plastic folder with some paper files and CD's that they could give to Hanamura-sensei, even a hooded short coat for Eiji). Then, she carried it (not without some effort) to the place where the exhausted Eiji and Kirihara were waiting.
"Here, Eiji-chan, Kirihara-kun. Let's see what will be useful for us..."
Akaya wanted to retort to what the girl said, but she was already out of the cell. Soon enough though, she was back, with few quite interesting things. First of all, clothes. Kirihara was too skinny for his own good, and all pants were almost falling from his hips, but they would do. Had to. There was no other way. Also a jersey. Fortunately Osakada had enough mind to bring also a pair of shades. They would look weird at night (as Akaya assumed it was evening already), but it would be better than letting people see his eyes. More corpses wouldn’t do them any good. There was also some money. Good, they could use public transport hopefully.
Other than these things, he wasn’t interested in what the bag contained anymore, just waited as patiently as he could. Every now and then looking out to the hall, to see if there weren’t any more of guards or crazy scientists.
While Kirihara was looking out to the hall, Tomoka took a blue dress from the bag. "Please don't look at me, Eiji-chan," she quietly told Eiji as she walked towards a spot behind the catboy's back to change clothes. She knew the boys wouldn't care, but even then she couldn't help but feeling observed constantly after spending so many hours under such a tight surveillance.
The girl then put a pair of shoes and a short coat, to later tie her long hair with a rubber band she found in the coat's pocket; with these clothes and her hair down, she'd look passably good. Meanwhile, Eiji chose his own clothes: baggy pants which surely belonged to one of the youngest members of that scientist team, a sweater, shoes and the hoodie. The catboy took the bag with the remaining stuff they'd need and Tomoka placed the mp3 player and a purse with some money in her pockets.
"We're ready, Kirihara-kun," she told the other boy. "Now, we must get out of this place."
Eiji had squeezed his eyes tightly shut when he realized Tomoka was about to change. Nope, wasn't going to look! Even if there was a cat's curiosity. His sisters had taught him a lot about respect for other people!
Once Tomoka was done, Eiji pawed through the rest of the pile, his ears twitching with every sound he could hear from the hallway. Throwing a nervous glance back at the door, he relaxed a little to see Kirihara there. Even if Kirihara was a little scary, Eiji trusted him somehow. He _had_ protected Eiji all this time, after all.
Scurrying into a corner, glad that both Tomoka and Kirihara weren't openly staring at him, Eiji quickly changed. Baggy pants to hide the tail, hoodie to cover the ears. Sweater because it was cold outside, and it somehow kept the hoodie from slipping, though Eiji wondered how that worked. Shoes that were a little too big, but there was no helping that. He didn't like not having socks, but the pants hid the tops of his shoes anyway.
Tomoka passed him a bag, and Eiji slung it around his shoulders and across his chest, messenger-style. Not without peeking inside first, though. CDs? Plastic folder with paper inside that looked like notes? It felt a little heavy, but Eiji thought it would be better if he carried the things anyway, even if he had no idea what it was for. "Let's go, nya," Eiji said, wondering if there was any food. He was starting to feel rather hungry.
As they left, Eiji spied the lockers, and rummaged inside one quickly. Smelling something familiar and sweet, he pulled out a candy bar from a gym bag in the locker. Unwrapping it--Snickers, original--Eiji broke it into roughly thirds, and offered a piece to Tomoka and another to Kirihara as they walked. He kept looking back over his shoulder, as he brought up the rear, and he made sure to stick close to both Tomoka and Kirihara.
It was times like this when Eiji wished he wasn't a helpless kitty that wasn't very combat-worthy. He vowed to himself that he was going into a much stricter training regimen as soon as they got back to Ryuhana. Oh, how he missed Oishi. He hoped Oishi was doing okay and hadn't worried too much about him!
Akaya didn’t take the food, he wasn’t hungry, the other two needed it more. His runners were almost fully covered by legs of too long pants, but the boy didn’t care. He… didn’t quite know where they were going, how could they exit the building (something they had to do soon), but he hoped they would find the way quickly enough.
Unfortunately, they had to pass by the medlab… Full. Of. Corpses. By now Kirihara was coming back to some sort of control, not like before he didn’t know what he was doing, but… he couldn’t control himself. But he remembered everything that happened… He… remembered all. Of. It.
Akaya didn’t stop by the lab… no way he wanted to take a closer look, but few paces later, he fell to his knees… not able to resist his body’s reaction, he just threw up.
They were approaching an open door, and ever the curious kitty, Eiji took a quick peek inside ... and froze.
There was so much ... blood, supplied Eiji's cat-mind, as his nose twitched. He stared, frozen in the doorway, unable to move.
Words were out of the question... so, Tomoka just stared at the bodies of men and women sprawled on the flood, blood-splattered, listless. Oh, no, no... Everyone was dead, from the rookies to the lady in charge, and in quite graphic manners. Those violent, gory games some Ryuhana kids liked to play in the PS2 of the rec room had nothing on this.
"Don't look, Eiji-chan...", she murmured, gently pushing Eiji away from the horrible scene. Tomoka herself was trembling from head to toe, trying not to imagine what kind of torture those people subjected Kirihara to, that unleashed such a tragedy. Was that the extent of his powers... the real extent? What would she say if the teachers, and especially Yamato, asked her about this? And what if, instead of being drained, she had lost control like that...?
Tomoka looked at Kirihara and saw him on his knees, throwing up. The girl could see he was also completely shaken... and even worse, since he was the one who did this, under the influence of the tests he had to take.
After making Eiji turn away from the bloodbath, she pulled a handkerchief from her pockets and neared to the black-haired boy, placing a hand on his shoulder but not saying anything to him. What would she say, anyway?
Nothing… Kirihara didn’t want to hear anything. He just wanted to get back, clean himself… and curl up with… no. No, no, no… Curl up in his own room, alone.
A.L.O.N.E.
No words, no pity… Akaya didn’t want people looking at him, talking to him… touching him. His shoulder dropped at the thought, making the girl’s hand slide down. Eyes wide as he looked at Tomoka, not scared… no… just wide, “Don’t touch me.” He took the handkerchief though, cleaning himself up and standing again.
Out, out… fuck, they needed out.
The oldest one from the three started walking… fast.
She would scowl at Kirihara and threaten him with telling Yamato that he was mean... in normal times. However, Tomoka realized that Kirihara would need some time to fully comprehend what had happened... He had definitely gone through the worst part of the deal.
The girl turned to Eiji. He was still speechless, pale, and looked like he was about to cry. So, she placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke in a soft voice, trying to calm him.
"Let's go home, Eiji-chan...," and not waiting for the catboy's answer, she forced him to move forward, following Kirihara's lead.
The lane leading away from the building seemed to go on forever to the three exhausted teenagers. Eiji trudged along blankly, struggling to come to terms with what he'd just seen. People. Blown to pieces. Torn into tiny bits. His eyes squeezed shut and he stumbled a little, and squeezed Tomoka's hand to keep his balance. The images remained in his mind, though, and Eiji wondered if he'd ever forget them.
They came to the end of the lane, and as they turned towards the bus stop just visible far off in the distance, Eiji caught a glimpse of the outside of the building. Sparkling white, like pure snow. But it certainly wasn't anything pure inside.
Would he ever do that to people if they hurt him the way they must have hurt Kirihara-san, to make the other do that? Eiji didn't know if he wanted to know the answer to that question. He squeezed Tomoka's hand as he felt his heart fill with pain for what Kirihara must have gone through.
It seemed like an eternity before they were standing at the bus stand, and Eiji still clung to Tomoka's hand, but he snuck a peek at Kirihara, standing a little away from them.
"... nya, Kirihara-san ... " Eiji said, softly, almost a whisper. "... they must have done some horrible things to you ..."
Horrible Things? Akaya’s stopped breathing at that. What horrible things? That was the worst part of it… they did nothing more than just run the stupid tests… and the collar.
The boy stood there, not answering, not even looking at the other two, his breathing shallow. It took some time for the bus to arrive and all this time Akaya didn’t let even a word out. There was nothing to say. Not a single thing. He killed them, yeah… for a fucking collar.
Heh. Entering the bus, he motioned to Tomoka to pay for them, as she was the one with the money and slid into a seat in the back, far, far from the driver.
Eiji joined Kirihara at the back of the bus. He could hear the shallowness of the breaths, and noticed how Kirihara was steadfastly avoiding anyone's gaze. Eiji's heart went out to the older boy. Who was Eiji to think he'd have nightmares from that previous scene? Kirihara had probably just lived through a nightmare.
Settling down on the seat beside Kirihara's, Eiji picked up one of his hands and squeezed it gently, offering strength and comfort to the older boy. Oh, how he wished he had his powers right now.
How could the other mutant still touch him after what he saw? It was beyond Akaya, but… he pulled his hand away, muttering, “You shouldn’t touch me.” He thought that it should be clear why… he had blood on his hands, maybe not literally, but still… no touching.
Shouldn't doesn't mean don't, Eiji's inner voice said. Maybe Kirihara was afraid of showing weakness in front of a younger boy. Dai-nii was like that sometimes. So Eiji nodded, but when he thought Kirihara wasn't looking, he slipped the hand back in anyway.
He cuddled against the other, suddenly really tired. Maybe Tomoka or Kirihara would wake him up once they got back to the school, Eiji thought. The combined effect of the shock, drugs, and long walk, plus the soothing back-and-forth and rumbling of the bus combined, and Eiji's breathing soon slowed as he leaned against Kirihara's shoulder.
Tomoka had just paid for the guys and herself, ignoring the curious looks from the driver (he seemed to think that Kirihara was drunk or something, since he looked so odd) then she joined them at the back. She arrived just in time to see Eiji dozing by Akaya's side. And Kirihara still looked shaken, broken.
She slowly pulled Eiji's hoodie down so his head wouldn't be uncovered, then she sat by Kirihara's side and firmly placed her hand on the man's shoulder. "Kirihara-kun", she told him, "we'll go through this together. Eiji-chan, me, and you."
Why the fuck some people didn’t understand when he told them -no touching-? Shit. Akaya most definitely wasn’t pleased, but he had no will to argue now.
Osakada didn’t know what she was talking about… she had no fucking idea.
He looked down to his hands… and the younger mutant’s hand holding his own. His body tense, feeling the warmth of the other when all he wanted was to be left alone.
Akaya kept silent during the ride, trying to clear his mind…
Tomoka kept her hand on Kirihara's shoulder for some seconds, and then let him go. This was no place to talk about it, and she senses that she shouldn't put more pressure on him. She could barely deal with the tests done to her and was trying to lift the weight on another person's shoulders... and sooner than later, it'd crash her too.
She didn't talk, just ate her candy very slowly (that way, she wouldn't throw up) and looked through the windows. After some minutes, they were in a familiar area... and later, she saw that they'd soon reach the bus stop that was the closest to Ryuhana Gakuen.
Tomoka reached for Eiji, touching his shoulder. "It's here. Eiji-chan, wake up. We'll be back home soon, let's get ready to leave this bus..."
" ... Nya? ..." He'd only been catnapping, really he had. He sat up, getting off Kirihara's shoulder, and pulling his hand out of the other's. Sitting dumbly, Eiji blinked a little, and then looked at Kirihara's face to see if he was alright. Tomoka looked okay, even if she also seemed really really tired. But Kirihara ... Eiji worried for his floormate.
He didn't know what to do, where to go, and following Kirihara didn't seem like a good idea at the moment when the older boy looked so out of it too, so Eiji decided to just let Tomoka lead. His eyes hurt, and he couldn't keep them open any more, they were as bleary as it was.
Ryuhana! Finally. Ignoring the other two (they were old enough, they could take care of themselves) he darted out of the bus and quickly walked to the school gates and into the dorms. Akaya didn’t run, it would look weird, but he wanted to shower and curl up on his bed as soon as possible.
Fetching his own clothes, towel and shower gel from his room (it was still opened since the day he was taken) Kirihara locked himself in the bathroom. The clothes he was wearing now… damn, he would burn them, or at least throw out. He didn’t want to look at them.
The hot water burned his skin, but he liked it. It made him feel at least a little bit cleaner. He spent there over an hour… probably using up all the hot water, but to hell with it. When he was done… he went back to his room, crashing on the bed immediately. The sheets pulled over his head…
Shit, he forgot to lock the door… oh well, not like anyone would care to come to check on him anyway, and Akaya didn’t feel like moving anymore.
Two or three students came up to Tomoka and Eiji and bombarded them with questions about what they were doing, how did they escape, etc., but she had no strength to reply to them. She smiled tiredly as she continued walking and pulling Eiji with her, only saying: "I'll tell you later, promise. Just let us go now, okay?"
The kids didn't give up so easily, but Tomoka lifted a hand rather menacingly and got ready to use a brief flash. They lightly reeled back, therefore allowing Tomoka to "escort" Eiji to the second floor, where he and Oishi shared a doubles room.
"You'll be okay now," she told the catboy. "Please give me the bag with the info, Eiji-chan; I'll take care of it...”
After receiving the bag, she hugged Eiji briefly. Then, she told the catboy good-bye for the night, and went towards her room. Though it was clear that the three of them, after such an awful experience, would need lots more than hugging or kissing - man, Kirihara would need shock therapy. Because having such powers, being forced to tap them and later releasing them in such a horrible manner...
Tomoka headed to the girls wing in the first floor, then took a short shower. Not even that was enough to cleanse her mind from what she had felt with her five senses. Tezuka wrote "this is war" in his journal; she didn't want to admit it, but that was scaringly close to the truth. But then, she'd have to face it against all odds.
Already in her bedroom, Tomoka put on a fresh night gown and stared at the clothes she had worn during the return. The blue dress, the coat, the shoes... she'd have to get rid of those useless reminders of the former hours sooner than later. She’d only keep the mp3 player, since it was an efficient sound source which would be helpful to her in the training sessions and whatever may come later.
Few minutes after she lay down on bed, Tomoka fell in a deep, dreamless sleep. The plastic folder with the info was on her desk… she’d give it to Hanamura and Ryuuzaki tomorrow.
Eiji somehow found himself at the door to his room, and stood there. What was he supposed to do again? Oh, right, go inside and sleep. Nya ... so tired ...
His cellphone blinked, on the table. "10 missed calls ..." But Eiji didn't see it. Within seconds, he was asleep on his bed, the door to the room slightly ajar. Eiji had been unable to remember to lock it, so tired was he.
Rating: PG-13/R for swearing and violence
Dated: Starts with the Ryuhana raid (February 15, around 03:30), ends February 16 at evening. (Blanche, Ai, if there's a problem with it, tell me and I'll fix it)
Summary: The famous kidnapping log! Eiji, Tomoka and Akaya are captured by human scientists during the Post-Valentines raid at Ryuhana Gakuen, and they're taken to a laboratory. But one of the kids turns to be too much to handle for the unethical adults.
A girl woke up with a tight feeling in her chest. No, it was around her neck, and it was choking her. She raised a hand and felt a collar placed around it. A tight one with red blinking lights...
"Where...?” Tomoka stared around; her eyes slowly focusing on what surrounded her. She was in a cell, still in her pj's, and with her long hair down. Eiji-chan... She was trying to help him... Where was Eiji, dammit?
What. The. Fuck!? Akaya’s head was throbbing and he had something on his neck. A collar, but a collar that did not feel right, not like a normal collar he used to wear. He noticed that he was also still in a pair of boxers and T-shirt, clothing he always used for sleeping, but he wasn’t in bed. With a growl he shifted, head resting on hard floor. Something definitely didn’t feel right. Like… all his energy was bottled inside, distressed… unpleasantly. Ugh…
She looked around again. Were her senses deceiving her again? No, the person who was not too far from them wasn't Eiji. He had black and messy hair, T-shirt and boxers... and a collar similar to hers. Tomoka got up, and despite the fact that she was shaking from head to toe, she got closer to the boy. "Ki... Kirihara-kun...?," she asked tentatively. Oh dear, he looked worse than her - if that was possible.
Kirihara tilted his head and cracked an eye open, Osakada. Well, it was good that someone else was here as well. They probably could figure something out together, but… the boy let out a groan, as soon as this fucking headache lessens. Light was irritating him at the moment, so he closed his eyes tightly again, speaking up, “Yeah, what?”
He didn't seem to be aware of the situation. Not like she knew what was exactly going on, anyway, but... The girl didn't give up easily. "What... what's this place? Do... you have an idea of what happened?", she murmured. It was odd... not only she was in a place she didn't know anything of, but her own body felt odd. She didn't feel the sound energy storing in her body, like other times. She tried to summon her sparkles... and nothing came to her. Nada. Zilch. Nope. Her powers were... gone. Like it happened to the psychics, maybe? No... it had to do with... She gasped in horror, staring at the collar Kirihara was wearing: it was identical to hers. Could that be the reason?
"Oh, look, a catboy."
"Eiji-chan, run!"
"Tomoka-chan! ... let her go, nya!"
Eiji's ears twitched a little, picking up voices. They were so faint, though ... but it sounded like Tomoka-chan. Tomoka-chan ... ?
Remembering the night's events in a flash, Eiji tried to jump up, but only managed a weak flop. "Nya ..." he said weakly, turning over onto his side, his tail remaining limply on the floor. Whatever the drug was, he wasn't quite fully recovered from it yet. "Where am I? Tomoka-chan? Anyone?"
Damn, Kirihara was far from pleased and stupid questions like that did not help the matter, “How in hell would I know?” He was preparing to sleep after the evening spent with Yamato, walking to his room from shower and right… since then he didn’t remember anything at all. This buzzing of the energy was frustrating… he needed an outlet and now, goddamnit. Akaya tried to push some of the energy into the floor through his hands, always the easiest task… this time it was impossible though. Something was blocking it.
…
The collar. But… the hell? Was it even possible?! Apparently yes. “These collars… I think you already figured it out as well.”
Tomoka touched her own collar again, shaking fingertips now feeling the metal and the plastic. She had no idea of how it prevented her from using the photonic energy so efficiently, but obviously she didn't like that. Not a single bit. "I... I see," she murmured. She could remember the past events better... she had managed to take some of Sakuno's friends to safety, but when she tried to do likewise with Eiji, they were caught and brought there. Whatever the place was. "... Eiji-chan...". She then faintly heard the catboy's voice.
It was Tomoka-chan! "Nya, don't like drugs, I feel tired," he said, tail beginning to swish a little. Eiji tried to sit up, and found that if he pushed slowly off the ground he could sort of get into a sitting position. His throat hurt a little, and though he crawled on all fours to look out at the hallway and try to see outside, he couldn't see very much beyond the four walls that confined him. "Where are you, Tomoka-chan? I don't see you."
Slowly and trying to use the wall as a support, Tomoka pulled herself towards the door of the cell, trying to place the less strain on her still wobbling legs. "Seems I and Kirihara-kun are not too far from you, but I can't see you either." The place seemed to be a sort of jail, or something by those lines. The lights were cold... in fact, the whole place was colder than the dorms of Ryuhana, though nowhere as much as the outer grounds in those days. She rubbed her arms and shuddered. Why were they brought there? What would those persons do to her and her friends? And more importantly... how would she defend them and herself, with her powers tapped by the damn collar?
Uh… apparently there was a third student, Eiji… the feline-boy, if Akaya remembered correctly. Awesome. Pulling himself finally up into a sitting position, he crawled over to the wall he thought was joining their cell with Eiji’s, resting his back against it. The headache just got worse, his skin tingling, uh… and he felt like throwing up at the moment, but no… a question just to make sure, “Eiji… you don’t have a collar, don’t you?”
"Collar?" Eiji felt at his neck, but the only collar he could feel was that of his t-shirt, and it was probably stupid to think Kirihara was asking about that. "What collar, nya?" His head felt a little better, but Eiji found that the less talking he did, the better his throat felt. "You sound like you're on the left, nya ..." His tail flicked in irritation, wishing the scratchy throat would go away.
"Eiji-chan's psionic powers are gone, Kirihara-kun," she murmured. "Maybe that's why he has no collar." Tomoka then turned to the older boy and saw that he was fighting to remain on his feet. "There... lay down. And don't bitch about this; you're in barely any position to talk ". Tomoka forced Kirihara to lie down, and sat not too far away from him since her own head was spinning. She seemed to be in slightly better shape than them, but that didn't mean she wasn't drained...
Kirihara just growled at being ordered around, but couldn’t resist much. And besides, lying down did feel like a very nice idea. He took his time with answering, “No… it’s because they can see what he is, unlike with us.” Which meant one thing… they would do tests. Whoever it was that kidnapped them surely wanted to run tests to find out what kind of mutants they caught. The very idea irritated Akaya to another level. He was no animal, to be kept in a cell like this… treated like an object of experiments. As his anger grew, the amount of energy rouse as well. Never a good thing with the boy.
Soon surely someone would show up to fetch them for the tests.
Eiji was confused. It sounded like Tomoka and Kirihara were in the same cell, from what they were saying, and it also sounded like they had a collar when he didn't. Trying to stand up, Eiji made it onto his knees, but his head protested as soon as he tried to get on his feet. His tail swished a bit as he shook his head violently, trying to clear it--uh, not a good idea, Eiji thought as the world shook painfully and his gag reflex nearly overwhelmed him.
"... I want to go home, nya ..." said Eiji, flattening his ears to his head as he backed up until he felt his back hit a wall. Pulling his knees up, Eiji rested his chin on them and debated the merits of a nice long catnap. Maybe this would turn out to be a bad dream, the cat boy thought, but everything--nausea, sore throat, headache--felt so real that somehow Eiji doubted it was any figment of his imagination.
Tomoka felt drained now, barely able to listen to Eiji's voice. She also wanted to go to either Ryuhana or her house, to be with her friends or family... but she was stuck there, and her friends weren't able to do anything to help her. Suddenly, she heard noises: doors opening, steps, adult voices that she didn't recognize. A woman in a white coat said, "The girl goes first. She used her powers in a surprisingly efficient manner before captured so it'll be interesting."
Two men opened the door of the cell and forced her to stand up. "Come on, girl," one of them said, "the docs want to see you first. They won't kill you, so don't be that scared." She had no strength to fight back, so she just stared at Kirihara and vaguely smiled at him. "See you later, Kirihara-kun" she murmured as the scientists took her away from the cell.
All Akaya could was to sit up and glare as the two guys took Osakada away. He was going to be next, most definitely. Eiji was probably going to be spared tests, due to his physical mutation. Unless they were some crazy fucks, which was in high probability. The raven haired boy was slowly getting his wits back, the headache giving place to plain internal annoyance. He was… boiling inside to be frank. The energy had no outlet and it was slowly driving him insane… mind clouding, any coherent thoughts disappearing.
Kirihara just sat there, staring blankly at the opposite wall. Blood rushing to his eyes.
Hearing voices outside, Eiji had pricked his ears up to listen. The girl goes first? A surge of panic rose in Eiji's stomach, and he could taste bile in his throat. Where were they taking her?
"Tomoka-chan!" Eiji said, calling out in alarm. They were taking his friend somewhere without him! What were they going to do to her? He forced himself up on his feet, and as he leaned back against the wall for support he found that he could just barely stand. Walking was a different matter, though--he still had to lean against the wall, and the nausea was just barely held in check.
"Tomoka-chan! Nya, Tomoka-chan! Don't take her, nya! Tomoka-chan!" But no one heeded Eiji's cries, and as the transmorph reached the door of his own holding cell, he could vaguely see the back of the scientists and a bit of Tomoka's messy brown hair in the distance, getting further away.
Eiji slumped to the floor again with his back to the door. Scared as he was, he would not cry. He took a few deep breaths, both to chase away the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him, and to calm himself. What was it his mother had always said? "Getting excited won't help anyone, Ei-chan, so take deep breaths, slow down, and think." So Eiji took a few gulps of air, and tried to calm himself down.
After a while, he found his throat wasn't as constricted, and his heartbeats were slowing down into something closer to his normal pattern, not thumping hard in his throat. They'd taken Tomoka-chan, but they'd said they weren't going to harm her. Maybe she'd be back soon. Where were they taking her? What were they going to do to her? Would he be next? Would Kirihara-san? What if Kirihara-san was feeling horribly scared just like him? Oh, if only he had his powers and could help them out!
"Kirihara-san ... " said Eiji softly, his ears twitching a little. Now that he was a little calmer, he was thinking about their plight. "How many people were there? And how are you feeling, nya?"
Akaya was doing his best to keep focused on the outside rather than the inside this time. His power wouldn’t act up, as it was heavily restricted, so there was no use in controlling it… Focusing on it now only made his mind sink deeper and deeper. Sticky mess of a clouded red mist.
Outside.
Outside.
Outside was safe at the moment. When he heard the question, he latched to the thought of answering, it was… slippery, but helped him stay up for a bit longer. His voice quiet, but audible, Kirihara replied, “Two men and we heard a woman.”
Though the other part of the question would be better left unanswered. The older boy did not want to think about how he was feeling. For now he just settled for, “I’ll be fine,” His mind adding words… hopefully soon, if ever again.
The drug had finally worn out completely. The headache gone and Akaya was getting his physical strength back. He could stand now properly, without feeling dizzy.
His skin burned and it wasn’t that pleasant burn, he always felt whenever Yamato was touching him… ah, the thought of the man helped a little in calming his nerves. When Akaya said Yamato made him feel calm, he meant it honestly. It was that nice kind of calm, that kind that let the boy stay sane longer…
Hours passed. Or maybe just minutes. Tomoka didn't know that for certain. None of the doctors that tested her were the image of the Good Family Doc: they didn't abuse the girl physically or sexually, but they *did* subject her to testing sessions that felt like an eternity. They collected samples of all kind (blood, hair, saliva, etc.), took the collar away for some minutes to force her to show them her light and sound powers, subjected her to different stimuli to see if her reactions were different...
All the while, Tomoka wished she had her powers fully back to attack them and escape. But just before the tests started, she heard the female doctor (apparently the leader of the group) say that Kirihara would be immediately tested after they were done with her. Oh, no... That meant Eiji would follow. Lord knew what the scientists would to the two boys.
No, she'd never abandon the guys to save herself. Never, ever.
Finally, all was said and done. Tomoka opened her eyes and found herself strapped to a stretcher, the collar again on. And the female doctor was by her side, smiling sweetly but poisonously.
"Good little girl. We'll leave you alone for a while, darling, now your boy friends will come here..."
Like in that American movie featuring The Bride and her bloody vengeance, the lady took a handkerchief and cleaned the sweat off Tomoka's face. The girl allowed the scientists to take her away in the stretcher, wondering if she and her friends would ever find the strength to wake up from this nightmare.
When the men appeared again after good few hours, Akaya just gave them a look. He didn’t feel like fighting them, not yet anyway, and he most definitely didn’t want to be touched by them so, the boy stood on his own and walked calmly wherever they were leading. Tomoka was probably taken somewhere completely else now.
There were more people in the lab, together with the woman, she looked even worse than Hanamura, really. If Kirihara had been given choice, he would honestly prefer to see the Ryuhana’s headmistress now. But he didn’t have it and he had to face this woman here. She didn’t look all that dangerous, but these eyes. Evil…
They didn’t take the collar off for first few hours. Sticking the boy with needles, taking blood samples, hair and skin. Checking his reactions, breathing and heart rate. The 17-year-old was clearly annoyed, even though he did his best to hide it. He didn’t speak, just did what they wanted him to do…
That is… until the woman, smiling sweetly (and it make Akaya sick), told him to show them what he could do when they took off his collar. She also threatened that if he didn’t co-operate his friends would pay.
Heheh.
Not like Akaya cared in his current state of mind. Or rather… he cared quite much, and he could feel the energy’s excitement at the thought of being finally released. Oh… he would show them. Not like they wanted, but he would. Definitely.
The moment the collar has been off, Akaya waited a second… two, before smirking unpleasantly. The woman raised an eyebrow, “Well?” Her eyes met the vermilion gaze (Kirihara’s eyes bloodshot) and after a moment she started screaming hysterically, in pain. The others didn’t quite know what was happening, but not for long. Some of them found themselves with Kirihara’s elbow in their guts, others with his fist in their face. The boy was fast… with each delivered blow, he was losing it more and more. Enjoying the screams and the pain he was inflicting.
Someone had a gun, but quickly it was charged, exploding together with the person’s hands. Another explosion… Akaya used anything he had to blast.
Blast, smash… hurt, kill. He didn’t leave anyone alive… there was some blood on his cheek and shirt when he finished, but none of it was his.
With a last look, he turned around and left the lab… finding his way to the cell he was previously kept in. Osakada was nowhere in sight, but at least he would get Eiji. No keys were necessary. Akaya just put two fingers to the lock, and after a second the door cracked open. At this point, the boy had perfect control over his power, his unconsciousness leading… he didn’t say anything; there was nothing that should be said. He didn’t wait for the other mutant, just went to search for the girl, expecting Eiji to follow.
Eiji had been catnapping in his cell after they took Kirihara, unable to do anything else. He waited for them to come and take him too, but no one did, and eventually he'd fallen asleep with his head pressed to the door listening for footsteps and hoping to hear a familiar voice in the distance. He didn't like the cell, but he didn't want to be taken away like Tomoka or Kirihara.
Then he'd heard the screaming and the explosions, which scared him plenty. What was that? Where was it coming from? What was causing it? Was Tomoka or Kirihara anywhere near there? Where they safe? Eiji's mind was spinning, even as he shrank to a corner of his cell, hoping, watching the door, wondering who would come by. Friend? Or ... foe?
When the door cracked open, Eiji stared at Kirihara. He was different, he looked different, his eyes were glowing red but he didn't even seem to see Eiji or smile. His shirt and bits of his pants were splattered with red blots, and Eiji's nose twitched, telling Eiji in no unspecific terms that yes, that was blood. Whose blood? Eiji's inquiring mind asked, but Eiji didn't dare voice out the question. Kirihara didn't seem quite right to him ... there was just something about the way he was carrying himself.
"Kirihara-san?" Eiji said, experimentally, but Kirihara didn't seem to hear him, and turned to go. Taking a quick glance at his cell, Eiji made up his mind. With a twitch of his tail, he hurried to catch up to Kirihara.
As he followed Kirihara, Eiji kept looking around, trying to spot Tomoka anywhere. A few times, Eiji would hear something, and duck with a "Nya" as a bullet or some similar threatening object came by. Eiji watched, amazed and in awe and a little scared, as Kirihara calmly picked up pieces of rubble to fling back, causing some rather scary explosions that had Eiji jumping back and covering his ears.
Nya, Kirihara had scary powers, Eiji thought, making sure to stay out of the other's way.
After taking the exhausted girl to another cell, the doctors decided that they wouldn't need to have her tied up to the stretcher since she was too tired to try to escape, even without her powers. So, they untied Tomoka and left her locked in the cell with the collar on, hoping she wouldn't be too rebellious and collaborate. They had now to perform the rest of their tests, and later they'd see what to do with the children.
Tomoka spent the following time trying to regain control of her limbs, which felt like they were made of sponge or something, so bland and listless she was from head to toe. Damn, what the hell did they inject her with during the test? They also forced her to take some pills - she didn't want to know what they contained. Tomoka's fatigue and the anguish upon not knowing what would happen to her, Kirihara or Eiji was enough to deal with.
Finally, Tomoka's legs felt less like jelly, and she was able to sit up and later even walk a bit inside of the cell. Few later… there came the gunshots, the screaming, the "damn mutant walking bomb" claims as, apparently, someone had broken in the place. Mutant... walking bomb...
One might think this shit's useless. But once 'charged' it's lethal... and I never miss.
Tomoka was reminded of the talk she had with Kirihara and Yukimura when they were made teammates. So, she knew that Kirihara was the one causing all of this mess. Fuck, *what* did they do to him?!
Again, she brought her hand up to her collar. No way could she take it off without its key. But she had no time to think about that; after some more gunshots and curses were heard, the girl found herself face to face with her friends. Eiji looked shaken, but other than that he seemed to be okay; apparently, he wasn't subjected to any testing. However...
"Kirihara-kun...?"
Kirihara looked different. His clothes were stained with blood despite him not having any evident injuries, and his eyes... she had never seen such eyes, bloodshot and filled with rage. Tomoka just stared at the man, instinctively taking a defensive stance despite knowing that, if he decided to kill her, she may not have a chance.
Akaya wasn’t to attack any of the two other mutants. He had enough sanity left to know who was a friend… the other lock also was nothing hard to blast, red irises fixed now on the collar the female mutant was wearing. Damn shit. This was all its fault. The boy reached out with his hand, brushing the collar with his fingertips. Not caring that Osakada was looking at him with wide, scared eyes. Few seconds… and a bit of focus on Kirihara’s part, and the item disappeared. There was nothing left of it, no dust like it happened usually when Akaya trained.
Now… the boy still wasn’t in his right mind exactly, but he was aware they had to get back to Ryuhana somehow. He, himself, was only dressed in boxers, a T-shirt and runners, something that, even though he wouldn’t mind, would look weird on the streets. The other two didn’t look better and… there was the problem of Eiji’s mutation.
They would have to find clothes… and money.
Now that the three teenagers were completely alone in the factory (except for the corpses, of course) and Kirihara was somewhat back to his senses, Tomoka decided to do something, instead of just being a damsel in distress. With a little mental effort, the girl remembered that, when she was wheeled from the test rooms to the cell, she could see two scientists checking on some lockers placed in a nearby hall. Maybe those lockers had something that could be useful to them...
Understanding that in his current state Kirihara wouldn't listen to her if she made him lay down, Tomoka murmured "I think I know where to get something useful; wait for me, I'll be back soon..." and, as quickly as her still somewhat shaky legs allowed her, she went to the lockers, trying not to look at the dead bodies laying on the floor.
The noises that had come from the mess Kirihara and Eiji caused to rescue Tomoka were still stored in her body, so she could easily use come small laser beams to break the locks. Ah, they were lucky; they contained clothes, bags and purses, which surely belonged to the scientists. There was even a second hand mp3-player, which would be perfect for her; she'd need a source of sound now. Too bad she got it after such horrible experiences.
The girl grabbed a bag and stuffed it with whatever she deemed useful (clothes, money, a plastic folder with some paper files and CD's that they could give to Hanamura-sensei, even a hooded short coat for Eiji). Then, she carried it (not without some effort) to the place where the exhausted Eiji and Kirihara were waiting.
"Here, Eiji-chan, Kirihara-kun. Let's see what will be useful for us..."
Akaya wanted to retort to what the girl said, but she was already out of the cell. Soon enough though, she was back, with few quite interesting things. First of all, clothes. Kirihara was too skinny for his own good, and all pants were almost falling from his hips, but they would do. Had to. There was no other way. Also a jersey. Fortunately Osakada had enough mind to bring also a pair of shades. They would look weird at night (as Akaya assumed it was evening already), but it would be better than letting people see his eyes. More corpses wouldn’t do them any good. There was also some money. Good, they could use public transport hopefully.
Other than these things, he wasn’t interested in what the bag contained anymore, just waited as patiently as he could. Every now and then looking out to the hall, to see if there weren’t any more of guards or crazy scientists.
While Kirihara was looking out to the hall, Tomoka took a blue dress from the bag. "Please don't look at me, Eiji-chan," she quietly told Eiji as she walked towards a spot behind the catboy's back to change clothes. She knew the boys wouldn't care, but even then she couldn't help but feeling observed constantly after spending so many hours under such a tight surveillance.
The girl then put a pair of shoes and a short coat, to later tie her long hair with a rubber band she found in the coat's pocket; with these clothes and her hair down, she'd look passably good. Meanwhile, Eiji chose his own clothes: baggy pants which surely belonged to one of the youngest members of that scientist team, a sweater, shoes and the hoodie. The catboy took the bag with the remaining stuff they'd need and Tomoka placed the mp3 player and a purse with some money in her pockets.
"We're ready, Kirihara-kun," she told the other boy. "Now, we must get out of this place."
Eiji had squeezed his eyes tightly shut when he realized Tomoka was about to change. Nope, wasn't going to look! Even if there was a cat's curiosity. His sisters had taught him a lot about respect for other people!
Once Tomoka was done, Eiji pawed through the rest of the pile, his ears twitching with every sound he could hear from the hallway. Throwing a nervous glance back at the door, he relaxed a little to see Kirihara there. Even if Kirihara was a little scary, Eiji trusted him somehow. He _had_ protected Eiji all this time, after all.
Scurrying into a corner, glad that both Tomoka and Kirihara weren't openly staring at him, Eiji quickly changed. Baggy pants to hide the tail, hoodie to cover the ears. Sweater because it was cold outside, and it somehow kept the hoodie from slipping, though Eiji wondered how that worked. Shoes that were a little too big, but there was no helping that. He didn't like not having socks, but the pants hid the tops of his shoes anyway.
Tomoka passed him a bag, and Eiji slung it around his shoulders and across his chest, messenger-style. Not without peeking inside first, though. CDs? Plastic folder with paper inside that looked like notes? It felt a little heavy, but Eiji thought it would be better if he carried the things anyway, even if he had no idea what it was for. "Let's go, nya," Eiji said, wondering if there was any food. He was starting to feel rather hungry.
As they left, Eiji spied the lockers, and rummaged inside one quickly. Smelling something familiar and sweet, he pulled out a candy bar from a gym bag in the locker. Unwrapping it--Snickers, original--Eiji broke it into roughly thirds, and offered a piece to Tomoka and another to Kirihara as they walked. He kept looking back over his shoulder, as he brought up the rear, and he made sure to stick close to both Tomoka and Kirihara.
It was times like this when Eiji wished he wasn't a helpless kitty that wasn't very combat-worthy. He vowed to himself that he was going into a much stricter training regimen as soon as they got back to Ryuhana. Oh, how he missed Oishi. He hoped Oishi was doing okay and hadn't worried too much about him!
Akaya didn’t take the food, he wasn’t hungry, the other two needed it more. His runners were almost fully covered by legs of too long pants, but the boy didn’t care. He… didn’t quite know where they were going, how could they exit the building (something they had to do soon), but he hoped they would find the way quickly enough.
Unfortunately, they had to pass by the medlab… Full. Of. Corpses. By now Kirihara was coming back to some sort of control, not like before he didn’t know what he was doing, but… he couldn’t control himself. But he remembered everything that happened… He… remembered all. Of. It.
Akaya didn’t stop by the lab… no way he wanted to take a closer look, but few paces later, he fell to his knees… not able to resist his body’s reaction, he just threw up.
They were approaching an open door, and ever the curious kitty, Eiji took a quick peek inside ... and froze.
There was so much ... blood, supplied Eiji's cat-mind, as his nose twitched. He stared, frozen in the doorway, unable to move.
Words were out of the question... so, Tomoka just stared at the bodies of men and women sprawled on the flood, blood-splattered, listless. Oh, no, no... Everyone was dead, from the rookies to the lady in charge, and in quite graphic manners. Those violent, gory games some Ryuhana kids liked to play in the PS2 of the rec room had nothing on this.
"Don't look, Eiji-chan...", she murmured, gently pushing Eiji away from the horrible scene. Tomoka herself was trembling from head to toe, trying not to imagine what kind of torture those people subjected Kirihara to, that unleashed such a tragedy. Was that the extent of his powers... the real extent? What would she say if the teachers, and especially Yamato, asked her about this? And what if, instead of being drained, she had lost control like that...?
Tomoka looked at Kirihara and saw him on his knees, throwing up. The girl could see he was also completely shaken... and even worse, since he was the one who did this, under the influence of the tests he had to take.
After making Eiji turn away from the bloodbath, she pulled a handkerchief from her pockets and neared to the black-haired boy, placing a hand on his shoulder but not saying anything to him. What would she say, anyway?
Nothing… Kirihara didn’t want to hear anything. He just wanted to get back, clean himself… and curl up with… no. No, no, no… Curl up in his own room, alone.
A.L.O.N.E.
No words, no pity… Akaya didn’t want people looking at him, talking to him… touching him. His shoulder dropped at the thought, making the girl’s hand slide down. Eyes wide as he looked at Tomoka, not scared… no… just wide, “Don’t touch me.” He took the handkerchief though, cleaning himself up and standing again.
Out, out… fuck, they needed out.
The oldest one from the three started walking… fast.
She would scowl at Kirihara and threaten him with telling Yamato that he was mean... in normal times. However, Tomoka realized that Kirihara would need some time to fully comprehend what had happened... He had definitely gone through the worst part of the deal.
The girl turned to Eiji. He was still speechless, pale, and looked like he was about to cry. So, she placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke in a soft voice, trying to calm him.
"Let's go home, Eiji-chan...," and not waiting for the catboy's answer, she forced him to move forward, following Kirihara's lead.
The lane leading away from the building seemed to go on forever to the three exhausted teenagers. Eiji trudged along blankly, struggling to come to terms with what he'd just seen. People. Blown to pieces. Torn into tiny bits. His eyes squeezed shut and he stumbled a little, and squeezed Tomoka's hand to keep his balance. The images remained in his mind, though, and Eiji wondered if he'd ever forget them.
They came to the end of the lane, and as they turned towards the bus stop just visible far off in the distance, Eiji caught a glimpse of the outside of the building. Sparkling white, like pure snow. But it certainly wasn't anything pure inside.
Would he ever do that to people if they hurt him the way they must have hurt Kirihara-san, to make the other do that? Eiji didn't know if he wanted to know the answer to that question. He squeezed Tomoka's hand as he felt his heart fill with pain for what Kirihara must have gone through.
It seemed like an eternity before they were standing at the bus stand, and Eiji still clung to Tomoka's hand, but he snuck a peek at Kirihara, standing a little away from them.
"... nya, Kirihara-san ... " Eiji said, softly, almost a whisper. "... they must have done some horrible things to you ..."
Horrible Things? Akaya’s stopped breathing at that. What horrible things? That was the worst part of it… they did nothing more than just run the stupid tests… and the collar.
The boy stood there, not answering, not even looking at the other two, his breathing shallow. It took some time for the bus to arrive and all this time Akaya didn’t let even a word out. There was nothing to say. Not a single thing. He killed them, yeah… for a fucking collar.
Heh. Entering the bus, he motioned to Tomoka to pay for them, as she was the one with the money and slid into a seat in the back, far, far from the driver.
Eiji joined Kirihara at the back of the bus. He could hear the shallowness of the breaths, and noticed how Kirihara was steadfastly avoiding anyone's gaze. Eiji's heart went out to the older boy. Who was Eiji to think he'd have nightmares from that previous scene? Kirihara had probably just lived through a nightmare.
Settling down on the seat beside Kirihara's, Eiji picked up one of his hands and squeezed it gently, offering strength and comfort to the older boy. Oh, how he wished he had his powers right now.
How could the other mutant still touch him after what he saw? It was beyond Akaya, but… he pulled his hand away, muttering, “You shouldn’t touch me.” He thought that it should be clear why… he had blood on his hands, maybe not literally, but still… no touching.
Shouldn't doesn't mean don't, Eiji's inner voice said. Maybe Kirihara was afraid of showing weakness in front of a younger boy. Dai-nii was like that sometimes. So Eiji nodded, but when he thought Kirihara wasn't looking, he slipped the hand back in anyway.
He cuddled against the other, suddenly really tired. Maybe Tomoka or Kirihara would wake him up once they got back to the school, Eiji thought. The combined effect of the shock, drugs, and long walk, plus the soothing back-and-forth and rumbling of the bus combined, and Eiji's breathing soon slowed as he leaned against Kirihara's shoulder.
Tomoka had just paid for the guys and herself, ignoring the curious looks from the driver (he seemed to think that Kirihara was drunk or something, since he looked so odd) then she joined them at the back. She arrived just in time to see Eiji dozing by Akaya's side. And Kirihara still looked shaken, broken.
She slowly pulled Eiji's hoodie down so his head wouldn't be uncovered, then she sat by Kirihara's side and firmly placed her hand on the man's shoulder. "Kirihara-kun", she told him, "we'll go through this together. Eiji-chan, me, and you."
Why the fuck some people didn’t understand when he told them -no touching-? Shit. Akaya most definitely wasn’t pleased, but he had no will to argue now.
Osakada didn’t know what she was talking about… she had no fucking idea.
He looked down to his hands… and the younger mutant’s hand holding his own. His body tense, feeling the warmth of the other when all he wanted was to be left alone.
Akaya kept silent during the ride, trying to clear his mind…
Tomoka kept her hand on Kirihara's shoulder for some seconds, and then let him go. This was no place to talk about it, and she senses that she shouldn't put more pressure on him. She could barely deal with the tests done to her and was trying to lift the weight on another person's shoulders... and sooner than later, it'd crash her too.
She didn't talk, just ate her candy very slowly (that way, she wouldn't throw up) and looked through the windows. After some minutes, they were in a familiar area... and later, she saw that they'd soon reach the bus stop that was the closest to Ryuhana Gakuen.
Tomoka reached for Eiji, touching his shoulder. "It's here. Eiji-chan, wake up. We'll be back home soon, let's get ready to leave this bus..."
" ... Nya? ..." He'd only been catnapping, really he had. He sat up, getting off Kirihara's shoulder, and pulling his hand out of the other's. Sitting dumbly, Eiji blinked a little, and then looked at Kirihara's face to see if he was alright. Tomoka looked okay, even if she also seemed really really tired. But Kirihara ... Eiji worried for his floormate.
He didn't know what to do, where to go, and following Kirihara didn't seem like a good idea at the moment when the older boy looked so out of it too, so Eiji decided to just let Tomoka lead. His eyes hurt, and he couldn't keep them open any more, they were as bleary as it was.
Ryuhana! Finally. Ignoring the other two (they were old enough, they could take care of themselves) he darted out of the bus and quickly walked to the school gates and into the dorms. Akaya didn’t run, it would look weird, but he wanted to shower and curl up on his bed as soon as possible.
Fetching his own clothes, towel and shower gel from his room (it was still opened since the day he was taken) Kirihara locked himself in the bathroom. The clothes he was wearing now… damn, he would burn them, or at least throw out. He didn’t want to look at them.
The hot water burned his skin, but he liked it. It made him feel at least a little bit cleaner. He spent there over an hour… probably using up all the hot water, but to hell with it. When he was done… he went back to his room, crashing on the bed immediately. The sheets pulled over his head…
Shit, he forgot to lock the door… oh well, not like anyone would care to come to check on him anyway, and Akaya didn’t feel like moving anymore.
Two or three students came up to Tomoka and Eiji and bombarded them with questions about what they were doing, how did they escape, etc., but she had no strength to reply to them. She smiled tiredly as she continued walking and pulling Eiji with her, only saying: "I'll tell you later, promise. Just let us go now, okay?"
The kids didn't give up so easily, but Tomoka lifted a hand rather menacingly and got ready to use a brief flash. They lightly reeled back, therefore allowing Tomoka to "escort" Eiji to the second floor, where he and Oishi shared a doubles room.
"You'll be okay now," she told the catboy. "Please give me the bag with the info, Eiji-chan; I'll take care of it...”
After receiving the bag, she hugged Eiji briefly. Then, she told the catboy good-bye for the night, and went towards her room. Though it was clear that the three of them, after such an awful experience, would need lots more than hugging or kissing - man, Kirihara would need shock therapy. Because having such powers, being forced to tap them and later releasing them in such a horrible manner...
Tomoka headed to the girls wing in the first floor, then took a short shower. Not even that was enough to cleanse her mind from what she had felt with her five senses. Tezuka wrote "this is war" in his journal; she didn't want to admit it, but that was scaringly close to the truth. But then, she'd have to face it against all odds.
Already in her bedroom, Tomoka put on a fresh night gown and stared at the clothes she had worn during the return. The blue dress, the coat, the shoes... she'd have to get rid of those useless reminders of the former hours sooner than later. She’d only keep the mp3 player, since it was an efficient sound source which would be helpful to her in the training sessions and whatever may come later.
Few minutes after she lay down on bed, Tomoka fell in a deep, dreamless sleep. The plastic folder with the info was on her desk… she’d give it to Hanamura and Ryuuzaki tomorrow.
Eiji somehow found himself at the door to his room, and stood there. What was he supposed to do again? Oh, right, go inside and sleep. Nya ... so tired ...
His cellphone blinked, on the table. "10 missed calls ..." But Eiji didn't see it. Within seconds, he was asleep on his bed, the door to the room slightly ajar. Eiji had been unable to remember to lock it, so tired was he.